The Conceptions of Justice and Engaged Pedagogy class was held last fall at the Vancouver Island Regional Correctional Centre and mixed incarcerated and university students
University of Victoria professor Audrey Yap, seen here outside the Vancouver Island Regional Correction Centre in Victoria, B.C., on Dec. 2, 2019, said she found the incarcerated students refreshingly blunt.Audrey Yap says teaching a course inside a Vancouver Island prison, with a mix of inmates and regular university students, upended the usual dynamics of a classroom.
One of those students, 24-year-old Kathleen Fox, remembers the first class of Conceptions of Justice and Engaged Pedagogy: “We just started reading a poem and engaging very casually in this discussion, and it was so unique and special. With her course, Prof. Yap wanted to reach out to inmates while giving university students a new, enriched learning experience.
Before the university students ever set foot in the institution, they were briefed by prison officials. The students were subjected to criminal-record checks. They were told not to wear red because prisoners wear red, and security officials did not want any confusion to arise should an incident occur. No smartphones would be allowed in the facility.
“I didn’t want any of my students in this position where they would run into these guys afterwards and want to help," she said. “They’re humanities undergrads. They are not trained social workers. They’re not addictions counsellors or trauma counsellors or whatever else people might need.” She said she found the inmates hospitable; they welcomed their non-incarcerated peers and warmly engaged with them.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Letters to the editor: Jan. 1: ‘Apathy, inaction and failure to exercise due diligence.’ Transport Canada’s role in the 737 Max tragedies? Plus other letters to the editorIn today’s letters to the editor: Transport Canada’s shortcomings in the Boeing debacle, education for inmates, Rhodes Scholarships, marijuana on the menu and Old Montreal’s horses
Read more »
Fore! How golf courses can solve Vancouver’s housing crisis - with enough political willpowerIf our civic leaders truly want to fulfill their election promises to solve our housing crisis, there is a no cost solution at hand: put these golf courses in play.
Read more »
Classical music: Bringing medieval-era music to a new decadeThe new year starts up with a visit by the celebrated Benjamin Bagby and his Sequentia Ensemble in a bold two-concert initiative
Read more »
Three people feared dead in Australian bushfiresA further four people are unaccounted for in the state of Victoria, the site of some of the fiercest recent fires, although authorities have not provided further information
Read more »
Moscow brings in fake snow to ring out Russia's hottest year on recordThis year was the hottest ever registered in Russia.
Read more »